Millers Point residents fear police called if they don’t move

BY TANG LI

Millers Point residents continue the battle to stay in their homes after the NSW government allegedly threatened to call the police on tenants refusing to move.

This comes after the government decided to sell public housing in Millers Point and announced that only 28 units will be available for the 90 remaining residents.

Mary Vo, a 76-year-old former Vietnamese refugee at the centre of a petition with nearly 5000 signatures, will soon be evicted from her home.

Kelli Haynes, the petitioner and a Save Millers Point member, said the only house offered to Ms Vo was unsuitable due to her frailty.

“Mary has been crying every time I have seen her for the last two weeks. She was told this month that the police would be coming for her if she doesn’t move.”

“Where she’s living at the moment, she is able to live on one level. If she takes something that doesn’t meet her needs, she will need to move again.”

“The best practice is for people’s needs to be determined and a house to be allocated to meet those needs especially if you are at high risk. If the Minister thinks this is the pinnacle of housing service, it’s very worrying,” she said.

State member for Sydney Alex Greenwich said that he had opposed the selloff from the start.

“While the Minister’s offer of 28 units is a step in the right direction, I’m concerned that these properties are too few and may not match the needs of the most vulnerable tenants and I’ve asked the Minister to provide more properties. We’re waiting to find out how many people have applied to stay in the area, and can be housed in one of these units.”

Homeowner and Friends of Millers Point convenor John Dunn said he and his wife had been welcomed into this tight community and therefore felt they had an obligation to help threatened residents stay.

“If we let this process happen without standing up, this whole suburb will be haunted forever-more. My senior friend Myra just came out of the hospital – she’s blind, she wobbles, and all she wants to do is stay here.”

While extremely frail, Mr Dunn said people don’t realise how independent they are.

“Move them out of here and their independence is gone – they’ll be lost souls because they don’t know anybody. We hear stories of people that come back here and they’re in tears all the time because they become alienated – it’s awful for them,” he said.

The Millers Point Relocation Team has been at the frontline working with the affected tenants and the community around them, and was recently awarded for their ‘Customer Service Team Excellence’.

However, Ms Haynes said this win was ironic.

“This team should’ve never won a customer service award because they were tasked with doing something that was the very opposite of meeting people’s needs. Even if they’re the best, they shouldn’t have won it because they are undoing people’s lives and pushing vulnerable peoples’ lives to the edge.”

“They have won an award but their reputation is one of harassment, failing to meet people’s needs and intimidation. Many people are not happy. They are in worse situations once they’ve moved – we think it’s appalling,” she said.

However, Mr Dunn said that while there is a strong sense of fear, the residents must remain strong.

“As soon as they waver or if they have any illness, then the Relocation Team starts carving and will separate them all.”

Barney Gardner, a long-term resident said that he refuses to leave his home and will take the matter through the tribunals and legal system if he has to.

“I’ve been here for 66 years of my life and haven’t known any other place to live.”

“All they need is a bit of compassion and understanding. All we’re asking is for them to offer places that aren’t unsuitable – these people can’t climb stairs at 70 to 80 years old. We shouldn’t be forcing these elderly people into a new area when they only have 10 to 15 years left in their lives. It’s very hard for elderly people to build a new community around them,” he said.

According to a longitudinal study from Sweden, those who moved as a result of ‘urban renewal’ experienced increased mortality and an under utilisation of health services, compared to the rest of the population.

Ms Haynes said the purpose-built Sirius building “would be the perfect answer many of these peoples’ needs and for the government to be competent social housing providers, but they’re wanting to get rid of it and that doesn’t make sense.”

Housing NSW is expected to make formal offers to the remaining Millers Point tenants in March. Social Housing Minister Brad Hazzard’s office had not replied to questions by the time of publication.